Can anyone tell me what colour Gt Nothern frieght cars were in the fifties. I have pictures of green cars with the white herald, but were these fifties period or was the colour red?
Many thanks in advance for your help
Alex
For boxcars, they were primarily mineral red. The lt. green cars didn’t start until about 1960-62. I’m not sure about the bright “fire engine” red boxcars, I think they started in the late fifties. Reefers would be yellow, covered hoppers gray. Pretty much everything else would be mineral red, although a few flats, gons, and hoppers did get the bright red paint but that may be more 60’s era than 50’s.
I know the 1962 GN movie “Empire on Parade” shows quite a few bright red GN freight cars.
If I were home I could check the books, there are a couple of good books out on color histories of GN freight/passenger cars.
As mentioned, the GN’s freight equipment was mineral red through most of
the 50s. The vermillion (bright red) showed up in 1958, following GN’s
“Circus Train” color and lettering scheme experiments. Glacier Green
began appearing around 1961. This held true for most GN freight equipment.
Tank cars were company service only, in the 50s and were variously silver
or black-sometimes with orange domes. Western Fruit Express reefers
maintained the yellow sides with mineral red ends, though they began to get
aluminum roofs and some updated lettering.